Method of manufacturing hats.



ATURNBR., METHOD 0F MANUFACTURING HATS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10I 1913.

Patented June 16,1914.

@1070751 Turner COLUMBIA PLANGGRAPH co..wASH1Na'roN. D. c.

ARNOLD TURNER, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 10, 1913.

Patented June 16, 1914.

serial No. 778,279.

To alt whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARNOLD TURNER, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of Danbury, in the county of Fairtield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Manufacturing I-Iats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of felt hats and refers particularly to a novel method of producing new styles of either soft or stiff felt hats and ladies hats, as will later be more fully explained.

It is the purpose of the invention to produce what may be termed novelties in hat wear and particularly to produce a hat the surface of which will be of a two tone effect and ornamented by designs of any special character, as for instance wavering oval stripes disposed radially from a central division line across the hat to imitate layers of cloth or straw; or by like treatment the body might be ornamented to imitate owers, figures, birds or butterflies; to produce these stripes and figures so that they will be permanently formed in the body of the hat, so as not to fade, brush or wash out, and especially to accomplish the above in a novel and practical way and so that the hats may be produced rapidly and by automatic machinery at little or no additional cost over the present method of producing the ordinary form of soft or stiff felt' hats and ladies? hats.

vWith the above and other objects in view my invention resides and consists in the novel method of forming and finishing hat bodies illustrated upon the accompanying drawings forming a part of this speciication and upon which letters o-f reference will be found to designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures and of which Figure 1, shows a side elevation of an ordinary form of felt hat body which has been shrunk, sized, dyed and stiffened. Fig. 2, is a detail cross sectional view of the body illustrated in Fig. l and which is of the usual uniform shape and thickness. Fig. 3, is a similar side elevation of the body after it has been pressed and treated in accordance with the first step of my novel method of forming hats. Fig. 4:, is a detail cross sectional view of Fig. 3 showing the relative form of the body after vessentially the same treatment.

beingpressed. Fig. 5, is a further side elevation of the body shown in Fig. 3 and illustrating the said body after the same has been pounced in accordance with a further step of my improved method. Fig. 6, is ya detail cross sectional view of the body shown in Fig. 5 and illustrates more clearly that the raised portions of the surface of the body are next cut off to produce the two tone effect. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the same hat body after the crown has been blocked to form, and the body again treated to produce smooth inner the outer finished surfaces, and, Fig. 8, is a further detail sectional view taken through the body shown in Fig. 7 to better illustrate that the body is finally pressed to form a smooth but striped surface.

In the manufacture of so called felt hats there is used at the present day a considerable quant-ity of ramie which is a fibrous material, and which is properly mixed with fur previous to being blown upon the cones to form the hat bodies. In the rolling and sizing of these bodies the fur tends to work to the surface of the bodies, thereby leaving the ramie to form the core so to speak or central portion of the bodies. The natural color of this ramie is gray and very similar to the fur itself. Therefore the bodies before being dyed are all of a light gray color. These gray bodies after being sized and shrunk to size and shape shown in Fig. 1 preparatory to blocking and shaping are dyed to various colors as for instance, blue, black, green and brown. Gwing to the fibrous nature of this ramie, and the fact that it is located central in the body, it does not take the dye as readily as the fur which thus forms the surface of the bodies and therefore the intermediate or inner core of the body is of a lighter color than the surface. This, in my novel method operates to advantage and makes it possible for me, in part, to get my two tone effect when the hat bodies are treated and this inner and lighter material exposed, as will next be explained. Bodies of this character most effectively show contrast, but I attach the greatest importance to producting quiet contrasts by In the formation of hats therefore in accordance with my improved method I take an ordinary, so called, felt hat body A substantially like that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which has been dyed, stiffened, steamed and softened. These bodies are first placed into a suitably cut or flutedmold that is mounted in a hydraulic press. Theses fiutes or figures obviously may be of any design that it is desired to have reproduced in the exposed surfaces of the finished hat. These molds are used in connection with an expandable rubber former which is brought down into the hat body after it has been placed in the mold. The rubber former is next expanded by the hydraulic pressure in a Way to forcibly press the moist body against the mold and into the creased or sunken portions so that When the pressure is released and the body Withdrawn it will be shaped to imitate the mold and have formed upon its surface raised and sunken portions a and b in the Aform of ribs or figures and in acco-rdance With the particular figure of the mold as is shoWn in Figs. 3 and 4t. rlhese conical shaped bodies are then preferably pounced lightly so as to cut portions of the surface c off the raised portions of the body as shown at Z and thereby expose to the surface, portions of the core formed of the ramie e and Which is usually lighter in color. This obviously gives to such raised portions of the hat a different color and gives the hat body a permanent two tone color effect. The hat is then steamed and stretched upon a block to form the final shape and size and is later further blocked and shaped in a hydraulic press or in any other suitable manner to forma final size and shape as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This final pressing or ironing of the hat serves to press out the raised and irregular surface and to again form a perfectly smooth surfaced body. It is obvious that the Work of smoothing out the irregularities and shaping the hat could be effectively done by ironing on a Wooden block, or in other Ways, or a rough felt may be produced by merely shaping the body overa block With either steam or hot Water. The surface having been marked in this Way by the pouncing operation before mentioned, still remains figured in the body and thus becomes a. permanent feature of the finished hat Whether it be pressed or simply stretched over a block and nished.

Very attractive designs for both gentlemens and ladies hats may be found in the 'above manner and desirable products may be obtained in the same Way, by applying the treatment to all fur or all Wool bodies. The'pouncing of the raised portions produces (after the body is duly blocked and 'pressed or ironed) amarking very similar to certain invisible stripes or checks in cloth fabrics.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The herein described method of forming felt hats which consists in first pressing a body to Wrinkle the same and form a series of raised surface portions, then cutting off such raised surface portionsv as by pouncing, and next blocking, shaping and finishing the hat.

2. The herein described method of making hats which consists in forming a body the inner layer of which is made of one material and the outer surface layer of Which is formed of another material, then pressing' the body to form a series of raised and sunken surface portions, next cutting off said raised surfaces to expose the inner layer of material, and finally to block and finish the hat to form a smooth surface.

3. The herein described method of finishinghatbodies which consists in first pressing the said bodies to form raised portions upon the opposite surfaces of the body, next removing the surfaces of the outer raised portions, and finally in blocking and Working out the said body to form a perfectly smooth finished surface upon the hat.

4,' The herein described method of forming felt hats Which consists in first forming a suitable body, then pressing the same to form a fiuted surface, then cutting off the raised portions of the body and next blocking and Working out the hat body to remove the flutes and give the hat ay finished shape.

5. The herein described method of making felt hats which consists in forming a body of fur, next dyeing and stiffening the same, then pressing and Wrinkling the body to form a series of distorted raised and sunken surfaces, next removing the raised surfaces in a Way to form a smooth finished shape.

6. The herein described method of making felt hats which consists in first forming a conical shaped body. then pressing the body to form a series of raised and sunken surfaces on both the inside and outside of the hat, next pouncing off the raised surfaces, and finally in blockingand pressing the hat to form a smooth finished surface.

Signed at Danbury in the county of F aireld and State of Connecticut this Sth day of July A. D., 1913.

ARNOLD TURNER.

litnesses r FRED N. SMITH, W. STANLEY BERRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. C.

Commissioner of Patents, 

